“To be honest, we had a very firm conviction at that time.” Nowadays, Meng Yu, the soprano singer of more than 90 years old，could not help saying the above word when she recalled her working experiences in youth, especially the experience of being a cultural ambassador of New China.
Our Utmost Effort is to Present Best Arts to the World
Recent Photo of Meng Yu
In 1949 Chinese Democratic Youth Art Ensemble Arrived at Budapest (Photo Provided by Shen Xiu)
Chinese Youth Delegation firstly arrived in USSR, where the Soviet experts viewed our performance. We performed Yankgo, Mongolian Dance, chorus etc. We then headed westwards from USSR and arrived in Hungary where the 2nd World Youth and Student’s Peace and Friendship Festival was held. On the third day after our arrival, we were supposed to attend the opening ceremony. There were more than 60 delegation members and we were all nervous. Although our country was undergoing economic difficulties, the clothes provided for us were quite good in quality. Men were provided with the Chinese tunic woolen suits while women were provided with one western suit and two mandarin gowns. When we entered the venue in queue, all of us threw out our chests and strode forward proudly. Immediately, all the audiences stood up and applauded for us.
In 1949 Chinese Youth Delegation Met with Famous Writers Alexander Fadeyev and Maershock
Opening Ceremony of Performance at Moscow
As Premier Zhou Enlai once remarked, in cultural exchange, culture and art take the lead and diplomacy follows. When visiting abroad, artists will be diplomatic envoys. In my memory, Zhou Weishi instructed us on this matter frequently as well. However, during the process of the first Chinese cultural diplomacy carried out by our delegation, there still existed some issues that should not have happened. For example, every delegate was given a fine pen, with which we hated to part. But, when we were walking in the street of Moscow, we came across some vagabond children who snatched our pens and ran away. We desperately ran after them and the local policemen joined us as well. Finally those children were caught but the pens had already been transferred to other fellows. After we returned, Xiao Hua, head of Delegation severely scolded us in face of every member. He emphasized that we represented China abroad and therefore we lost the honor of New China more importantly than our pens if we run along the street of Moscow and were followed by policemen. From then on, we felt bound to improve our knowledge and inner quality consistently and were determined to become a qualified art worker of New China.
In 1949, North China Art Troupe where I was arrived at Beijing with PLA. After we settled down, we immediately organized the Yangko Dance evening at which we performed White-Haired Girl. When the performance reached the climax, Zhou Weishi told us that we would represent New China to participate in the 2nd World Youth and Students’ Peace and Friendship Festival, at which all of us were overjoyed. As youngsters who grew up in the remote mountain areas and underwent the Second World War, we could hardly imagine our overseas trip as soon as we enter the lately liberated Beijing. At that time any words failed to describe our excitement.
